Friday, December 27, 2013

TSA Week in Review – 31 Firearms Discovered This Week (25 Loaded)

31Firearms Discovered This Week
– Of the 31 firearms, 25 were loaded and seven had rounds chambered. See a
complete list and more photos at the bottom of this post.

Left to Right - Top to Bottom - Three Inert Grenades (DEN), Inert Grenade (AUS), 20mm Round (SAN)

Inert
Ordnance and Grenades etc.
- We continue to find inert hand grenades and other weaponry on a weekly basis.
Please keep in mind that if an item looks like a realistic bomb, grenade, mine,
etc., it is prohibited. When these items are found at a checkpoint or in
checked baggage, they can cause significant delays in checkpoint screening.
While they may be novelty items, you cannot bring them on a plane. Read here on why inert items
cause problems.

Five
inert/replica/novelty grenades were discovered this week in carry-on bags at
Austin (AUS), Guam (GUM), and three at Denver (DEN).

An inert
20mm artillery round was detected in the carry-on bag at San Diego (SAN).

Stun
Guns – 16 stun
guns were discovered this week in carry-on bags around the nation. Two were
discovered in Atlanta (ATL), two in Denver (DEN), and the others were
found in Amarillo (AMA), Boise (BOI), Sioux Falls (FSD), Jackson (JAN), Los
Angeles (LAX), Memphis (MEM), Myrtle Beach (MYR), Oakland (OAK), Portland
(PDX), San Francisco (SFO), San Juan (SJU), and St. Louis (STL).

Stun Guns Discovered at (L-R) JAN & FSD

Artfully
Concealed Prohibited Items –
It’s important to examine your bags prior to traveling to ensure no prohibited
items are inside. If a prohibited item is discovered in your bag or on your
body, you could be cited and quite possibly arrested by local law enforcement.
Here are a few examples from this week where prohibited items were found by our
officers in strange places.

Twocredit
card knives were discovered this week at Albuquerque (ABQ) and Lansing (LAN).

Ammunition – When packed properly, ammunition can be transported
in your checked luggage, but it is never permissible to pack ammo in your
carry-on bag.

Ammo Discovered at (L-R) BOI & TUL

Airsoft
Guns – Two
Airsoft guns were discovered in carry-on bags this week at Boise (BOI) and New
York Kennedy (JFK). Airsoft guns are prohibited in carry-on bags, but allowed
in checked baggage. Read this post for more information: TSA Travel Tips Tuesday:
Traveling With Airsoft Guns

Airsoft Guns Discovered at (L-R) JFK & BOI

Firearms
Discovered This Week in Carry-On Bags

Left to Right, Top to Bottom: MDT, RSW, PBI, SEA, JAX, SAT

Top to Bottom, Left to Right: CHS, BOI, MAF, ATL, FLL

*In
order to provide a timely weekly update, I compile my data from a preliminary
report. The year-end numbers will vary slightly (increase) from what I report
in the weekly updates. However, any monthly, midyear, or end-of-year numbers
TSA provides on this blog or elsewhere will not be estimates.

Unfortunately
these sorts of occurrences are all too frequent which is why we talk about
these finds. Sure, it’s great to share the things that our officers are
finding, but at the same time, each time we find a dangerous item, the
throughput is slowed down and a passenger that likely had no ill intent ends up
with a citation or in some cases is even arrested. The passenger can face a
penalty as high as $7,500.00. This is a friendly reminder to please
leave these items at home. Just because we find a prohibited item on an
individual does not mean they had bad intentions, that's for the law
enforcement officer to decide. In many cases, people simply forgot they had
these items.

FRIGHTENING multitools, used by millions of people every day at home and work with no deaths or acts of terrorism

TERROR screwdrivers (see above)

DEATH pliers, not sharp at all (see caption below)

Various pocketknives and Swiss Army knives, including the very kind the TSA wanted to start "allowing" Americans to keep before the flight attendants union got the vapors thinking about flyers keeping their own property.

Quick! Bury the TSA Kids site post with a very, very long blotter! Include all kinds of real(?) pictures of weapons so the public won't question why we're lying to kids! Make up some stats so they forget all of the soda and water and lotion and shampoo we took!

Lame, Bob. Lame. Do you bury controversial posts to discourage public comment by choice, or do your bosses actually know you exist and tell you to bury them? There is a pattern, Bob.

I still haven't seen an explanation of who confiscated the cash shown in the 10/18 blog post and why it was confiscated. Therefore, I will be sending a copy of the 10/18 blog post to several Senators and Representatives and requesting that they investigate the matter. Travelers need to know which federal agencies are operating at TSA checkpoints and why cash (which is not a danger to a plane) is being confiscated.

You people are clueless ... there is a reason why there has not been a major air catastrophe since 2001. It is because of the measures taken and frankly it does not bother me to be searched and questioned because I have nothing to hide ... maybe others like the ones here complaining 'do' ???

No, TSAnonymous of Dec 31, 6:13am. The TSA hasn't stopped a terrorist because as court documents reveal, your bosses know no terrorists are trying to blow up planes.

Also, locked cockpit doors and the crew/passengers won't comply mean no terrorists will succeed in hijacking a plane.

The TSA doesn't exist outside the US. What's the stats for hijackings for the past 12 yrs. The TSA didn't take naked pics of us until 2010 or so, and didn't play their shoe/liquid games til a bit before that, yet planes weren't falling from the sky.

How many hijacked planes exploded in the US prior to 9/11/01?

TSA is security theater. You're more likely to get hit by lightning then encounter a terrorist event.

Stop treating freedom-loving innocents like criminals and terrorists, no matter how much your TSA bosses say you should.

What changes would those of you that are unhappy with the current rules make? This is a serious question. How would you secure the travelling public to the greatest degree. By the way, volintarily surrendered items are neither confiscated or stolen. We CAN NOT take things away from you.

Anonymous said...You people are clueless ... there is a reason why there has not been a major air catastrophe since 2001. It is because of the measures taken and frankly it does not bother me to be searched and questioned because I have nothing to hide ... maybe others like the ones here complaining 'do' ???

December 31, 2013 at 6:13 AM

..............................

Perhaps the reason is because no one is trying to take over an airplane to use it like a guided missile.

TSA certainly hasn't stopped any group from such action seeing as how TSA does nothing to secure the backdoor of the airports. Airport workers are not screened and can and do bring in anything they like when they walk right by TSA and use employee entrances.

TSA represents a far greater danger to your safety than does anyone else.

Johnny Gloves said...What changes would those of you that are unhappy with the current rules make? This is a serious question. How would you secure the travelling public to the greatest degree. By the way, volintarily surrendered items are neither confiscated or stolen. We CAN NOT take things away from you.

December 31, 2013 at 8:49 AM

...............................For starters use sensible Pre Check style screening for everyone. If reason is advanced then screen the individual until alarms are resolved. Use WTMD and HHMD as primary screening. Strip Search Machines as secondary screening devices. Pat Downs only when all else fails and each pat down to be documented and observed by a TSM or higher.

End the war on water and other LGA's. No examples of a working liquid bomb can be put forward by TSA. TSA wastes extensive man hours confiscating water and other harmless items.

Johnny, for all intents and purposes, "voluntary surrender" *is* confiscation. Also, are you denying all the reported, we'll documented thefts by TSA employees?

Finally, the required changes to security were securing cockpit doors and changing passenger mindset to no longer comply. Go back to wtmd (and hand wands to clear alarms) and x-ray for luggage. They are minimally invasive procedures, thus allowed by case law. Fully body scanners and pat downs go WAY beyond the minimally invasive administrative searches which are allowed.

"...Johnny Gloves said...What recommendations would those of you who are unhappy with the current rules have to improve the situation? This is a serious question. How would you change things?"

I don't know.... why don't we follow the same model as the FAA? The FAA write the rules for pilots and mechanics, but the FAA doesn't actually provide pilots or mechanics. Let the TSA do the same thing. They can write the security rules and let the airports and airlines provide the security.

if the tsa is abolished as so many people have asked for here on this blog and a plane was to blow up or again be used as a weapon what would the public say about tsa? i am curious to hear? would those same people that demanded the end of the tsa then say stupid the government was for getting rid of them? would the american public go after the government for putting the public at risk by removing the tsa? its a situation that the government cannot afford to happen.